After spending hours exercising, doing hair and makeup, rehearsing your best answers and practicing your smile in the mirror you can still wind up as Miss Congeniality, and the intense pressure drives many young women away from these competitions.

The latest woman to walk away from the pageant world is one of its biggest stars, and the reason she chose to give up her title has many fans seeing red. Zoiey Smale has been competing in pageants since age 16, and made a name for herself by winning a number of national titles.

The 28-year-old came out of early retirement last year to compete in the Miss United Kingdom pageant and took home the crown, but now she's giving it up after pageant organizers asked her to go on a diet.

Smale, who says she's a size 10, was "upset and shocked" by the request, which she claims was made by an organizer for next month's Miss United Continents pageant. She was left wondering how to respond before writing a passionate Facebook post that has since gone viral.